I've often been asked, "Hey,
Oldsmagnet, is there anything that can be done about this flimsy rearend
in my G-body?" Well, yes, there is. Step
one, get rid of it. Step 2, replace it. Here's one way.

The mid 80's Olds (Actually BOP)
rearends are different than the ch*vy rearends, you can swap in an axle out of a MCSS, but you
won't be able to use individual parts. A more abundant option is the 68-72 A-body cars, Cutlass/442,
Skylark/GS/GSX, Lemans/Tempest/GTO, and the, uhh... chevelle. Many of these
came with the locking rearends (Anti-spin, Anti-slip, posi, call it what
you will) and they are in fair supply
in junkyards nationwide.

These axles are physically different,
although they are of the same style and design. Both utilize the 4 link coil spring suspension.
The A-body axle is about an inch or 1.5 inches wider than the G-body's. The control
arms are subsequently farther apart. The coil spring mounting bosses
are offset about 1/2 inch between
the axles, and the shock mounts are of different angles.

South Side Machine makes an adaptor
kit that incorporates their Lift Bars. Summit Racing carries these (that's where
mine came from) and they may be available from other sources as well. I paid about $350
for mine.

The kit includes the two upper
and two lower control arms, fully boxed and bearing pivoted for solid mounting and no flexing.
They provide two spring bosses and instructions to cut off original, and weld the new ones on with
a 1/2" offset. Also comes with shock mounting studs, to weld on at the corrected angles.

Things to watch for:

The driveshaft/u-joint coupling
may need to be modified/fabricated. The kit assumes a complete hub-to-hub
swap, and does not come with any brake apparatus, such as e-brake cable couplers,
etc. There are no sway bar provisions,
but with the bearing pivots, the sway bar is unnecessary. With the wider stance, some
offset rims will not fit inside the quarter panels. The kit provides instructions
for setting up pinion angles. You'll need an inclinometer to fine
tune that angle. The instructions direct you
to weld in place, once you have the desired angle setup. However, there's ample room to drill
multiple holes for lockbolts, to allow setting for multiple angles, i.e.
highway vs. launching.